Days before he took part in his first NTT IndyCar Series race, Toby Sowery didn’t know what to expect from the experience. Signed for a single race with Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 51 Honda, the race-winning Indy NXT veteran hoped to have a clean run but couldn’t predict where he’d finish.

Starting 24th, the Briton made multiple passes in the opening laps, stuck to a two-stop strategy that most of the field used, and was rewarded with a strong performance to claim 13th, which ranks as the best of the season for DCR’s No. 51 entry.

“Super proud with that result,” Sowery told RACER. “To be honest, I didn’t know how we’d stack up in the race, just purely from a qualifying position standpoint. I knew it kind where we should have started. The Dale Coyne team made some really good steps with the car over the weekend, so I was excited for qualifying, and I think today proves that we’re competitive. Today has been a very, very good day.”

Sowery was the biggest mover of the race along with Santino Ferrucci as the two improved 11 positions across the 80-lap race. Given another chance to drive, Sowery is confident there’s a lot more for him to show next to DCR’s Jack Harvey, who dealt with an ailment on the way to placing 26th.

“There’s a lot of improvements on my end, and with the pit stops I can do,” he said. “Because I think if we were clean on them, we could have potentially been in front of Ferrucci who was 10th, but I’m really happy with the team. They’ve done a fantastic job all weekend. They’ve been super welcoming and helpful in guiding me. And you know, Jack’s been amazing as well. It’s a shame he’s had his neck problems this weekend.”

If there were any question before Mid-Ohio as to whether Sowery belongs in IndyCar, the answer was provided in the affirmative on Sunday.

“I had a good little ding-dong with (Romain) Grosjean before he slid off,” he said. “Had a good little battle with David (Malukas). The start it was, it was good on my end; we went forward. It was hectic at times, but I was calm. I’ve always felt like I could mix it up in this paddock, and I got to prove to myself that It’s not a wish, but a bit of more of reality. And fingers crossed everyone else sees it that way too.”

BENWOOD, W.Va. (WTRF) — A fire is out at a storage silo at the Ohio County Mine on 4th St. in Benwood.

Police Chief Frank Longwell says a patrolman discovered flames and smoke coming from the silo at around 10 pm Sunday.

The fire was put out within an hour and no injuries were reported.

Several agencies reported to the fire, including Wheeling, who brought a skyscraper fire ladder to reach the top of the 15-story-high silo.

The fire was determined to originate from a coal mine belt.

The facility is owned by the Ohio County Coal Company.

LEXINGTON, Ohio — After scoring his best NTT IndyCar Series qualifying result of his brief career on Saturday, Christian Rasmussen backed that up with a career-best ninth-place finish in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The Danish racer started eighth in the 27-car field and was running in sixth place ahead of his final pit stop in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Unfortunately for Rasmussen, Alexander Rossi, Christian Lundgaard and Kyle Kirkwood leapfrogged the 2023 Indy NXT champion in the final pit stop sequence, dropping him to his eventual finishing position of ninth place.

“That was awesome!” Rasmussen told Frontstretch after the race. “We did exactly what we needed to do today just to have a clean, nice finish … You know we had obviously good pace in the car, which we showed yesterday in qualifying as well. But yeah, super, super happy. First top 10, I’m sure there’s more coming.

“It really just shows how much development we’ve done, not only me as a driver, but everyone in this team. So it’s been great to be a part of and it’s finally starting to show now what we’re capable of doing. So yeah, just very happy about that.”

This year has been mystifying for Rasmussen on road and street courses. Before Mid-Ohio, the 2020 USF2000 champion had only two finishes above 19th place (12th at the Indianapolis 500, 13th at Laguna Seca) in his part-time effort for ECR.

The eponymous team owner will take over the seat for the remaining oval races of the season while Rasmussen will be behind the wheel on the streets of Toronto and at Portland International Raceway.

“It’s kind of been a weird year on paper,” Ed Carpenter told Frontstretch. “It looks like we’ve taken a step back from last year. Internally, it feels like we’re better. We just haven’t been able to get the results from mistakes of our own and some bad luck at times.

“You know, in Detroit he was on for a top 10 there when we had an engine issue. So he’s been doing a really good job and progressing and it’s nice for him to get a reward and ultimately a confidence boost here as we head toward the last two road races for him.”

Rasmussen’s result moves him from 22nd to 19th place in points, 21 points behind teammate Rinus VeeKay in 18th.